Five times Rush got stuck
by Shenandoah Risu
Summary: If there was one word Rush could pick to describe his life it would be "stuck". With Rush, the Destiny crew and other innocent bystanders.


**Title: Five times Rush got stuck**  
**Author: Shenandoah Risu  
Rating:** PG  
**Content Flags:** getting stuck  
**Characters:** Nicholas Rush, Everett Young, Dale Volker, Adam Brody, The Destiny Crew  
**Word Count:** 736  
**Author's Notes:** Thanks to whoever submitted this prompt (sorry, I forgot)! This one's for you.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own SGU. I wouldn't know what to do with it. Now, Young... Young I'd know what to do with. ;-)  
**Thanks for reading! Feedback = Love. ;-)**

**oOo**

**Five times Rush got stuck**

If there was one word Rush could pick to describe his life it would be "stuck".

As long as he could remember there were instances in his life where he was at the mercy of someone – or something – else, which invariably led to frustration at best and near-homicidal rages at worst.

Getting stuck, however, also tended to bring out the best in him (once he had overcome the frustration and/ or rage), and invariably his situation would improve afterwards.

He was every math teacher's worst nightmare: the kid that was obviously intelligent, far above the other kids in his class, and that led to boredom, inattentiveness and outright petulance. Most of his teachers figured out quickly that the way to keep him at bay was to challenge him with a math problem that was way out of his league, and young Nicholas, never one to turn down a dare, would immerse himself in the twists and turns of trying to find a solution. And when he got stuck, he got stubborn, unable to let go. At that point he became lost to the world, hopelessly mired in frustration until he finally teased out the answer, which sent his poor teacher scrambling for another appropriate problem.

One of the things he never expected when he was finally off to university (ultimately with the goal to frustrate another hapless set of instructors) was the amount of inoculations required to attend an institution of higher learning. Having grown up in abject poverty he had missed out on a number of immunizations, which were still regarded with deep suspicion among his working class people. He got stuck so many times he lost count, thinking there must not be a single pathogen left on the planet that could do him harm. And Rush really hated needles.

Being stranded on the Destiny was both his personal ninth level of hell – and his very own Cloud Nine. Since he was surrounded with delectable Ancient technology wherever he set foot he sometimes felt as if he'd died and gone to Heaven. On the other hand, Destiny didn't put out like a broken candy machine by any means – she made him work for every tiny discovery and revelation. Still, if given a choice, if there was one place to get stuck in this entire universe, the Destiny was by far the best deal. Ever.

But being on the Destiny also meant being stuck with the likes of Volker and Brody. Somewhere in the back of his head he told himself that the red-headed astrophysicist and the moonshine-producing engineer were rather brilliant people – there was simply no other way they could have ended up on Icarus in the first place. But try as he might, he could not slow down his mind enough to explain most things to them, and they constantly got lost or distracted with failing kidneys, unrequited love interests, the intricacies of still construction and aging weapons components.

The worst indignity by far was his weekly laundry session. His assigned "laundromate" Colonel Young never missed an opportunity to heckle and barb him, especially since Rush unfailingly came up a sock short when the Ancient dryers were done. Under Young's disapproving stare he'd fumble around in the dryer and more often than not, Young, who had longer arms, would have to retrieve the missing item. Once, though, Young had already left when Rush realized that, as usual, one sock was being held hostage by the vengeful dryer. Out of options he crawled head first into the dryer and felt his way around until he touched something soft. Cursing under his breath he gently worked the sock free from a hole in the vent – and found he couldn't get back out. He was completely stuck. Hours later (and luckily he had no idea who all had seen his rear end hang out of the dryer and laughed their head off at the view), of all people it was Young who suggested he should crawl all the way _into_ the dryer, turn around and exit head first. It worked like a charm, but in Rush's mind it was all Young's fault to begin with. Young just shook his head and sighed, but from then on he waited around to perform the weekly sock rescue. And while he would never actually admit it, Rush was grateful to him for that.

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**_Thanks for reading! A comment or feedback would be lovely._**** :)**


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